Basic Presentation Skills: Creating a Presentation

Overview/Description
Among the fears that people have about giving a presentation is that they will get mixed up, forget to make a key point, or repeat themselves. One way to avoid this is to have a sound structure. Once you have identified the purpose and audience for the presentation, and come up with some ideas for what to say, you can transform those ideas into a script or notes that will guide you through the presentation. You should start with an introduction, where you grab the attention of the audience and tell what you are going to do. Next, you need to support each of your key points and, at the same time, not lose the attention of the audience. At the end of your presentation, you need to give your audience a clear understanding of what happens next. You also must make your ending compelling. After all, this is how the audience will remember you. This course describes how to make these key parts of a presentation – the introduction, support content, and conclusion – memorable and effective. It also explains the purposes for which different presentation aids are used, as well as how to use visuals appropriately. Finally, this course describes how to rehearse a presentation – a key step in building confidence for the real thing.